Dad Who Threw Toddler From Building Aspired to Be the 'Best' Dad

When we heard the horrific news that a man threw his toddler son from a 52-story building last night and then jumped to his own death, I'm sure we all imagined the perpetrator of this insane act to be an absolute monster. But, according to the latest reports, Dmitriy Kanarikov was a Ukrainian immigrant and hard worker with a good job who wrote on his Facebook page: "I want to be the best dad and husband -- nothing is more important to me right now." He had a beautiful wife named Svetlana Bukharina, who also used Facebook as a platform on which she announced to the world in March that she had the "best husband and son in the world."

What happened? And how did an innocent 3-year-old go from having a potentially happy family life to having his life ended by the father who claimed to love him?

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Dmitriy and Svetlana's relationship reportedly went bust in recent months and things got so bad as the two fought over custody issues that they had to meet at a police station each time they dropped off or picked up their son Kirill. The morning of the incident, dad had picked up Kirill at the station and was instructed to drop him off at the same spot later that day. Instead, he took him to a luxury high-rise building in Manhattan, and it's still unclear why he chose this location.

Dad allegedly brought his son up to the roof of the building and threw him off first. He then followed by leaping to his own death. Dmitriy died immediately, but in a heartbreaking twist, the toddler died at a nearby hospital -- while wearing his Christmas pajamas.

If you click through the couple's Facebook photos, you'll only see images of happiness and love. Dmitriy and Svetlana recorded beautiful days spent at the beach together as a family and their son -- smiling in each photo and appearing well taken care of -- seems the picture of perfect health. But this isn't the first time we've heard about horrific situations arising from bitter custody battles.

It seems like the stress of custody fights and the jealousy and pain that arise as a result are too much for some parents to handle. We'll NEVER understand how they can get to a place where it becomes more important to hurt their former partner than it does to protect their child -- but we have to admit this is happening and that it is a very real problem.

Our hearts go out to the mother who must get through this holiday season without her little boy. There are no words to express how sad and painful this must be for her.

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call a suicide prevention hotline. There are always people who want to talk to you and help you. You can reach help at: 1-800-273-TALK.